Mining-machine.



H. A. KUHN.

MlNlNG MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 18. 1914.

Patented July 10, 1917.

2 $HEETSSHEET 2.

HARRY A. KUHN. 0F PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

MINING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 110, 1917..

Application filed M21118, 1914. Serial No. 839,332.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY A. KUHN, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Mining- Machines; and I do hereby declare the fol lowing to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to mining-machines.

In an application for Letters Patent of the United States Serial No. 796,497, I have set forth and described a method of mining coal in which an undercut is first made in the wall of coal, and the coal is then separated along its lines of cleavage by shooting in the ordinary manner, and thereupon the coal is undermined and conveyed away.

.-The present invention has reference to a machine which may be employed to carry out the above method, and in addition I provide means for advancing raking or disrupting devices at different heights working from the side of the mass of coal across the same to the opposite side, while at the same time the-coal is being undermined and carriedaway, this raking device acting to move in a horizontal plane at difierent levels and working in such away as to dislodge the coal and drop it onto the conveyor below.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved machine; and Fig. 2 is a side elevation.

In the drawings, the machine for under mining the coal and conveying it away is the same form of machine which is illustrated and described in an application filed by me on the 18th day of May, 1914, Serial No.

839,325, and is illustrated more or less diagrammatically.

The frame 2 is carried by the tractionwheels 3 and inclosed within the box or housing 4 are the gear-connections which drive the traction-wheels 3. The lever 5 is employed for giving the forward or backward movement to the traction-wheels 3 in advancing and withdrawing the frame 2. On the frame 2 is the motor 6 whose shaft 7 is provided with the pinion 8 meshing with the gear-wheel 9 on the counter-shaft 10. The pinion 11 on the counter-shaft 10 engages the gear-wheel 12 on the worm-shaft 13. The worm 14 engages the worm-wheel 15 on the shaft 16 and from this wormwheel power is transmitted to the gearing in the housing 4 which drives the traction wheels 3.

The shaft 13 is connected up by suitable clutch-mechanism with the shaft 17 and said shaft l7 has the beveled-pinion 18 which meshes with the beveled-teeth 19 on the large sprocket wheel 20, mounted on the shaft 21. A chain 22 engages the sprocket-wheel 20 and said chain passes around the sprocket-wheels 23 at the forward end of the frame 2. The chain 22 has the flights 24,- and the cutters 25, said flights moving along the pan 26 all as illustrated and described in the aforesaid application.

The frame 2 is inclined downwardly and is supported near its front end by the rollers 27.

A beveled pinion 28 on the counter-shaft 10 meshes with the beveled-pinion 29 on the shaft 30. A sprocket-wheel 31 on the shaft 30 is engaged by the chain 32 which extends up and around the sprocket-wheel 33 on the shaft 34 journaled in suitable hearings in the uprights- 35. The shaft 34 has the beveled pinion 36 which meshes with the beveled pinion 37 on the shaft 38. The outer end of the shaft 38 is journaled in suitable bearings in the upright frame 39,

which is carried by the frame 2 at one side gaged by the worm 47 mounted between the channels 48. A crank 47 is connected to the worm 47 and by the turning of said crank the casting 43 with its sleeve portions 44 are turned in the lmarings 45. Secured to the sleeve-portions 44 of the casting 43 are the horizontally projecting frames 49. At the outer end of each frame 49 is the sprocket-wheel 50 held in position by the plate 51. A series of sprocket-wheels 52 are rigidly secured to the shaft 42 and a chain 53 passes around each of said sprocketwheels and around the sprocket-wheel 50 at the outer ends of the frames 49. These chains 53 have the diggers or disrupters 54 arranged at intervals thereon.

In mining coal with my improved machine, the coal is first undercut by suitable undercutting apparatus, and the wall of the coal is then shot so as to separate the coal along itslin'es of cleavage. The coal when shot settles down into the undercut on the floor of the mine and the machine is then advanced for the purpose of removing the coal, and asthe machine advances the cutters and flights 24 and 25 will dig under and disruptthe coal along the line of the original undercut, as indicated in Fig. 1, the coal dislodged dropping onto the pan 26 to be conveyed back to the pit-car. At the same time by the advancement of the machine toward the Wall of coal, the frames 49 will be advanced into the coal at a point adjacent to the far wall, the cutters or disrupters 54;

moving into the coal which has been separated along its lines of cleavage, and acting to disrupt and drag out the coal to be discharged onto the conveyer below. After this disrupting device has been advanced the proper distance into the coal, the operator turns the crank 49 and this causes the casting 43 to turn in its bearings and moves the disrupters in a horizontal plane across the coal as indicated in Fig. 2, whereby the coal is disrupted and dislodged across the entire out.

The action of the disrupting devices is not to divide the coal into small particles, but to disrupt it in lumps which discharge onto the conveyer and carry it back to the pit Wagon. By the movement of the disrupters the coal is pushed outwardly toward the machine, so as to bring it into position to be acted on by the conveyer and loaded into the pit-wagon. By my invention I provide for the dislodging of the coal in large lumps after it has once been separated along its lines of cleavage, and such violent disrupting of the coal by the use of explosives is not required, as the machine itself acts to dislodge and remove the coal after simply separating it along its lines of cleavage.

What I claim is:

1. In a mining machine, the combination of a suitable frame, dislodging and conveying means carried by said frame operating laterally of said frame in a horizontal plane, a series of horizontally arranged disrupting devices movable across the mass of coal above said dislodging and conveying means ing the same into the coal, dislodging and conveying means carried by said frame operating laterally of said frame in a horizontal plane, a series of horizontal disrupting devicesarranged one above the other at one side of the machine, and means for moving same across the coal.

4. In a mining-machine, the combination of a suitable frame, means for advancing the same into the coal, dislodging and conveying means carried by said frame, operating laterally of said frame in a'horizontal plane, an upright frame at one side of said first named frame, a shaft on said frame, sprocket-wheels on said shaft, a rotary sleeve member through which said shaft passes, horizontally extending frames carriedby said sleeve-member, sprocket-wheels at the outer ends of said frames, and chains engaging said sprocket-Wheels and the sprocket-wheels on said shaft, disrupting devices carried by said chains, and means for 90 rotating said sleeve member.

5. In a mining-machine, the combination of a suitable frame, means for advancing the same into the coal, dislodging and conveying means carried by said frame operating laterally of said frame in a horizontal plane, a series of pivotally mounted horizontally arranged disrupting devices at one side of said frame, and means for moving said disrupting devices on their pivot across the Wall of coal. In testimony whereof, I the said HARRY A. KUHN have hereunto set m hand.

HARRY KUHN. Witnesses:

JOHN F. WILL, Row. D. Towers.- 

